The inspection took place on 14, 15 June and 10 July 2017 and was announced. We gave the registered manager one working days’ notice of the inspection as the location is an extra care service and we needed to confirm the registered manager would be available when we inspected. The service had 36 flats and each person had their own tenancy. Octavia provided both housing support and care support to people living in the scheme.

People had their own flats based in a community setting within an extra care housing complex. The service provided support to people in their own homes with additional flexible care and support services available on-site to enable people to live as independently as possible. Support included personal care and support with medicines, meal preparation, shopping and cleaning. At the time of the inspection there were 31 people being supported by the service.

This was the service’s first inspection since becoming registered with the Care Quality Commission in July 2015.

The service had a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

During the inspection we saw safeguarding and whistleblowing policies and staff we spoke with were familiar with these and knew how to respond to safeguarding concerns. There were sufficient numbers of staff on duty to meet people’s needs.

People had risk assessments and management plans in place to minimise the risks they might face whilst using the service. Incidents and accidents were recorded appropriately.

Medicines were administered and managed safely.

Staff had the relevant training and support through supervisions and appraisals to develop the necessary skills to support people using the service. However, medicines competency testing or a written observation was not always recorded. The registered manager assured us this would be addressed by the newly appointed compliance officer who was monitoring training and competency testing.

We saw the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) were followed. Consent to care was recorded as part of the signed service user agreement and signed medicines consent forms and people we spoke with said they were given choice and control.

People’s dietary requirements and nutritional needs were met and we saw evidence that relevant health care professionals were involved to maintain people’s health and wellbeing.

People were involved in their care plans, day to day care decisions and said care workers were kind and caring.

People and care workers said the registered manager was accessible and approachable. People told us they felt able to raise concerns.

The service had a number of systems in place to monitor and manage service delivery. This included a complaints system, service audits and satisfaction surveys.